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From midnight on Thursday residents of New South Wales will be able to enter South Australia without having to complete 14 days of self-isolation.
However, the border reopening is conditional on NSW not recording any cases of community transmission before midnight tomorrow.
SA Premier Steven Marshall said the decision will be a relief to those who have been dislocated from friends, family, and business opportunities because of the border restrictions.
"We know that this has been a massive burden on the business community and also on families and individuals, but we did this to keep South Australia safe," said Marshall.
Further, Marshall said the decision was made by the state's Transition Committee this morning after assessing the COVID-19 situation in NSW.
"They were furnished with all the necessary information from New South Wales with regards to what had occurred over the weekend," said Marshall, referencing the situation where a Sydney taxi driver worked for nine days while infectious.
Residents of NSW who have entered the state prior to midnight on Thursday will still be required to complete the mandatory 14 days of self-isolation.
"For people who have already arrived or people that arrived right up until midnight tomorrow night, they will still be required [to self-isolate]," said Marshall.
"There is a different risk profile, and it's important that we observe this restriction and keep it in place."
SA Chief Public Health Officer Dr Nicola Spurrier says there is some risk in reopening to NSW, but this can be overcome by travellers abiding by basic hygiene measures and getting tested for COVID-19.
"There is always going to be some risk involved with this pandemic, but we can't just wrap ourselves in cotton wool forever," said Dr Spurrier.
"It's important that we can come out of this and that we can go about our normal lives and that we can start to enjoy things again."
NSW has recorded two new cases of COVID-19 today, but both are returned overseas travellers in hotel quarantine.
Updated at 11.44am AEST on 22 September 2020.
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